Water-still.



A. P. LINK.

WATER STILL. APPLICATION FILED APR.1, 1914. gQ, Patented Aug. l?, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Il? V611 tor:

A. P. LINK.

, WATER STILL.

BPPLICATON F'ILED APR. Il, |914. lpflAQ Patented Aug. 17, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

am 02 M In Ventolalu Amy an susanne rnrnnr enrich ADOLF 1?. LINK,BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

WATER-serian.

lSpecification of Letters ilatent. Patented Aug., 117, 119115.

Application filed April 11, 1914. Serial No. 831,204.

y tain new and useful Improvements in Water-Stills, of which thefollowing isa speciication.

My invention relates to water. stills ofthe type in which water isconverted into steam in a vaporizing receptacle, such as a boiler,

and the vsteam is thence conducted to suitable condensin means. y

In most `instances Water contains matter which, when the water isconverted into steam form, is present as deleterious volatile gases, andsuch gases must be entirely eliminated from the steam, if the distilledwater is to be thoroughly palatable in taste. Much difficulty has beenheretofore experienced in so constructing and operating stills as toentirely free the water from the presence and taste of these deleteriousgases.

The primary object of my invention isto provide a still which is soconstructed that the deleterious volatile gases contained in the steamare caused to separate out at several points in the'course of operation,and at each such point the gas immediately after being separated fromthe steam or partial condensate is prevented from again coming intocontact with the latter by being at once directed into the atmosphereoutside of the apparatus.

Some difficulty hasv also been experienced -with existing stills inproperly aerating the water, and in most cases distilled water is flator dead due to the absence of a proper amount of pure air.

Another object of my invention is to provide aerating means soconstructed and arranged that only sterilized air in suitable quantitieswill be drawn into the apparatus and admixed with the steam and water,whereby the latter will be supplied with a ferred by me is illustratedin the accompanying drawing, wherein- Figure 1 is a schematic view ofthe invention, the boiler and its appurtenant parts being shown inelevation, While the condensing portion of the apparatus is Vshown invertical section; and Fig. 2 1s an enlarged vertical sectional view ofthe upper part of the condenser.

Thev device forming the object of my invention is designed to `be usedin connection I with various kinds of heating means, but

in the drawing it has been illustrated as used in connection with anordinary Bunsen type of gas burner. It will bennderstood that suchburner is shown merely by way of illustration and not by way of limiltation.

The tube of the Bunsen burner which connects with the source of gassupply is designated 10; 11 designates the burner tube proper throughwhich the gas issues and'supplies thev llame to vaporize the water inthe boiler 11b which is partially indicated by dotted lines. When theboiler is placed over a burner jet such as that designated 11 inthedrawing, I support the boiler over this jet by means of legs orsupports 12 which are capable of being readily inserted in and removedfrom sockets 13 spaced about the outer periphery of the lower portion ofthe casing 14 which surrounds the boiler. This casing is provided withperipheral apertures 15 through which the products of combustion escapefrom the interior of the casing 14 after the full force of heat has beenapplied for the purpose of heating the Water in boiler 11b and raisingit to the boiling point.

Slidably carried near the base of the casing 14 is a skirt or sleeve 16indicated in dotted lines. This skirt is provided Vwith verticallydisposed slots 17 taking over studs or screws 18in the casing 14. Whenthe boiler is placed over a burner jet such as 11, the screws 18 may beslightly loosened,

Apermitting the skirt or sleeve 16 to descend by its own weight and thusform a heating chamber under the boiler. In case the boiler is intendedto be placed directly on astove,

such as 11, or with an Ordinary heating stove. y

Water is supplied to the boiler 11 fromthe condenser receptacle 19,-through a pipe 20 intermediate the ends of which is arranged a suitablyconstructed check valve v21.

i This valve is so balanced that when the pressure in the -boiler- 11bis less than the pressure in receptacle 19 water is permitted to flowfrom the latter to the boiler 11", and conversely, when the pressure inboiler 11b exceeds the pressure vin vessel 19 the check valve preventsinflow of water from vessel 19 to boiler 11%'` Y-g f Water is admittedto vessel 19 at the lower portion thereofthrough a valve controlled pipe22 which is connected with any. suitable source of supply and the top ofthe' vessel 19 is provided with an overliow 23 which may empty into anydesired receptacle.

Arranged within the vessel 19 is a series of condenser members which arepreferably i superposed' andeach of which preferably vconsists of adoublev cone, the cones being arranged one within the other. The detailstructure of these condenser members will dome 11 of the boiler beingreduced and slipped into a slightly conical socket 25. Bv

' this construction'the tube 24-may be readily connected to and detachedfrom the top of the boiler 11b. A

The outlet end 24n of the pipe 24 is prefer- 'ably flared and its -edgenotched as illustrated, and is embraced by a pipe 26, the upper portionof which is of increased diameter as shown at 26 and isspaced away fromthe wall of the portion 24EL of the tube to allow of the formation ofvents or openings between 24e and the portion 26EL of the tube 26.

Embracing the tube 26 with a tight t is a tube or pipe 27 which carriesan air admission tube or pipe 28 having attached to its outer end ahousing 29 slotted at 30 and in which housing an air control valve,preferably in the form of a needle valve 31, is adjustable. By screwingthe stem of the valve 31 in either direction, the head thereof isadjusted relatively to the inlet opening of the air admission pipe 28and the quantity of air supplied to the apparatus may be regulated.

Telescoping with the pipe 27 is the upwardly projecting substantially.cylindrical sleeve 32 of the uppermost'condenser member. At its upperportion the dia-meter of sleeve 32 is enlarged, and provided with ventopenings 33 in any desired number.

The sleeve 32 is securedto or formed integrally with the outer casing 34of the substantially conical, upper, condenser member. The walls of thisouter casing are preferably provided with inwardly extending ribs or.projections 35 equi-distantly spaced and serving a purpose to behereinafter explained. Within the outer casing is an inner conicalcondenser member 36, the lateral `Wall of which is provided with asuitable number of openings 37 formed by deflecting the wall adjacent tothe opening in opposite directions, as shown. y

Near its lower edge the vertical or lateral wall of the condenser member36 is provided with a plurality of slot-like openings through which thecondensate passes to the next succeeding condenser member.

The base of the condenser member just described is formed by the conicalcasing portion 38 which is also ribbed, and which terminates at itslower end in the neck 39, embraced by the neck or sleeve 40 of thesecond condenser member, which, like the upper condenser member isformed of an outer casing 34aL provided Vwith ribs 35et and an innercondenser member 361 provided with the openings 37a and having theslot-like openings It will be noted that the space between the outer andinner top walls' in the upper condenser member is greater than the spacebetween the' like walls in the second and third condenser members, therea: son for this difference being hereinafter referred to.

One of the condenser members is preferably provided with a double walledwater jacket 42-43 to act as a cooling medium for the distilled water,and in the embodiment of the invention illustrated, I have shown the,lowermost condenser member as being so jacketed, although any of theother condenser members could equally well be provided with this jacketor a similar jacket.

The base 38a of the second condenser member terminates in a neck 39awhich is enveloped by the neck or sleeve 41 of the water jacket for thelower-most condenser member. This Water jacketv is composed of thedouble walls 42-43 the outer wall being provided near its apex with'passages or ducts 46, and with similar passages or ducts 46 at its lowerend. Within this water jacket is the lowermost condenser member 36bprovided at its lower portion with an inclined or substantially conicalguide casing 47, the base of the condenser member 36b being indicated at381 and hav-ing the tube extension 39b which passes through the base ofthe receptacle 19 and is connected tothe outflow pipe 48 through whichthe distilled water is drawn off. The connection between pipe 48 andpipe 39b is formed by-a suitable stufling box 49 in such manner that byun- 1,150,439 v v a screwingthe stufling boX the pipe 48 maybe removedand the whole series of condenser members lifted out of the vessel 19 topermit cleaning the latter-.

Extending centrally from the top of the lowermost condenser member is anelongated A liquid level in the vessel 19.

- The operation of the invention will now be described: Assuming theboiler 11b to contain a proper quantity of water and heat applied to theboiler, steam will be generated which will pass out through the dome111l and into and through the pipe 24. This steam issues from theflaring end 24a of the pipe 24, and contains a greater or less quan-vtity of deleterious gases which are specifically the lightest portion ofthe steam. These gases have a constant tendency to separate and escapefrom the steam, and when the steam reaches the outlet end 24a of thepipe 24, a portion of these gases, owing to their lightness, willlescape upwardly through the notched section 26a. of the pipe 26. Thesteam passing downwardly through pipe 26, produces a suction action inpipe 28, causing air to be drawn in through valve 29 and pipe 28, whichair mingles, at a given point-24a and 34, with the incoming steam. Inits passage through pipe 28 the air is preheated, and as the air isdrawn down through pipe 27 about `the outer surface of pipe 26, it isheated to the steam temperature, thus becoming sterilized. As the steamand air continue their downward course vthey come into contact with theupper cone shaped outer surface of the condenser member 36 and aredeflected in all directions, being converted into a semi-condensatewhich trickles down the outer surface of the wall of the member 36`andthen through the openings a. The steam as it strikes the top of the wallstill contains deleterious volatile gases, a portion of which escapeunder the lower edges of the pipes 26 and 27 flowing upwardly andoutwardly through the openings 33 in the sleeve 32 of the outer wall 34of the condenser member, while the heavier gases through the second andthird condenser member at each stage being freed from the volatile gaseswhich according to the temperature of the surrounding condensing waterbecome nil either at 38, or at 36a, or 36", which gases pass up throughthe vent pipes 50 and 5l to the vent pipe 52 and out to atmosphere.Inasmuch as the temperature of the uppermost condenser member is higherthan-that of the other condenser members, a slight vacuum through theseries of condenser members is produced, this vacuum making itselfmanifest at the end of pipe 48, as a slight suction action. The higherthe temperature of the uppermost condenser member in contrast tothetemperature of the lower condenser members, the greater will be thevacuum in the condenserseries. In this connection it is to be noted thatas each portion of volatile gas is freed from the steam and condensatesuch portion is vimmediately conducted to atmosphere out ofcontact withthe water, so that there is no opportunity for the freed volatile gasesto again pollute-the steam and condensate. At the point 24a a portion ofthe volatile gases flows upwardly and to the atmosphere and the ventedportion of the gases cannot therefore again come into contact with thesteam. At the lower end of pipe 26, the steam and air mix, the steam'absorbing the necessary quantity of oxygen from the air admitted throughpipe .28, while another portion of the nitrogen and other volatiledeleterious constituents of the air pass to the atmosphere along thewall 32, and out at 33. At the openings 33 where the gases ow upwardlyand outwardly to the atmosphere they are out of contact with the steam,and within each of the condenser members the course of the' gases issuoli that the latter cannot come into contact with the con'- densate.'Theribs 35 within the condenser members act somewhat in the nature ofbaffles for the steam and increase the coolof condensation.v The spacebetween the upper andy lower condenser walls in the uppel-most condensermember is made greater than in the other condenser member because atthis. point the greatest quantity of steam is. discharged tothecondelisers and more space for expansion of steam i. is here requiredthan in the other condenser members of the series. l Y i Obviously, thewater in the upper portion of the vessel 19 is very much hotter than thewater in the lower portion, owing to the temperature of the steamdischarged. intov the upper condenser member. Two results follow fromthe fact that the temperature of the'water at the upper portion ofvessel 19 is higher than the temperature of thewater Vat the lowerportion. One of these results is that the hot water gives olf very.considerable bodies of steam which heat the air inlet pipe 28 so thatthe air drawn in therethrough and passing between pipe 26 and 27 issterilized. It will be understood that the steam rushing in to thecondenser members tends to suck or draw air in through the valve 29 andinto the condensers to admiX with the steam and condensate. The secondresult of the diierence in temperature between the upper and lowerstrata of water as above stated is to create an upward suction throughthe series of condenser members. This upward suction has the effect ofaccelerating the upward flow of volatile gases assisting in their eX-pulsion from the apparatus.

Although the condensate which reaches the lowermost condenser member isfairly cool, I find it desirable to water jacket th1s lower condensermember so as to increase the coolness of the water, whereby thedistilled water drawn oil through pipe 48 is cool enough to be drunkwithout the use of ice or additional cooling means.

What I claim is 1. A water still, comprising a vaporizmg vessel, acondensing vessel in communication therewith, said condensing vesselcontaining a condensing chamber and in communication therewith a secondchamber adapted to receive gases liberated from steam and condensate insaid condensing chamber, and means within the second chamber throughwhich such liberated gases are vented to the atmosphere in a path remotefrom that of11 the steamand condensate through the st l. c

2. A water still, comprising a vaporizing vessel, a condensing vessel incommunication therewith, a series of condenser members in saidcondensing vessel, each condenser member containing a condensing chamberand in communication therewith a second chamber adapted to receive gasesliberated from the steam and condensate in the condensing chamber, andmeans within each of said second chambers through which such liberatedgases are vented to the atmosphere in a path remote from that of thesteam and condensate through the still.

3. A water still, embodying therein a vaporizing vessel, a condensingVessel, a pipe through which steam is adapted to pass from thevaporizing vessel to the condensing vessel, a second pipev projectingupwardly from the condensing vessel and having an enlarged open endconcentric with and embracing one end of the first named pipe, said endof the first named pipe having notches therein and there being a spacebetween said pipes to permit of initial escape of volatile gases fromthe steam, and condenser means in said condensing vessel.

4, water still, embodying therein a vaporizmg vessel, a condensingvessel, a pipe through which steam is adapted to pass from thevaporizing vessel to the condensing vessel,- a second pipe projectingupwardly from the condensing vessel and havingan enlarged open endconcentric with and embracing one end of the irs't named pipe, said endof the ir'st name'd pipe having .notches therein and there being a spacebetween said pipes to permit of initial escape of volatile gases fromthe steam, condenser means in said condensing Vessel, and means forventing Volatile gases from said condenser means.

5. A 'water still, embodying therein a vaporizing vessel, a condensingvessel, a series of condenser members in said condensing vessel, meansfor conducting steam from the vaporizing Vessel to vthe condensingvessel, means wherebyY volatile gases are permitted to escape from thesteam as the latter is about to enter said condenser members, andadditional means remote from the path of the steam and lcondensatethrough said condenser members whereby volatile gases liberated from thesteam and condensate are vented to the atmosphere from said condensermembers without contact with the steam or condensate therein.

6. A water still, embodying therein a vaporizing vessel, a condensingVessel, a series of condenser members in said condensing vessel eachsaid condenser member having double Walls spaced apart, means forconducting steam from said vaporizing vessel to said condenser membersbetween the walls thereof, means for conducting a portion of thevolatile gases contained in said steam to the atmosphere before saidsteam reaches said condenser members, and means within each condensermember remote from the path of the steam and condensate therethrough forventing volatile gases out of the condenser member to the atmosphere.

7. A water still, embodying therein a vaporizing vessel, a condensingvessel having a series of condenser members therein arranged insuperposed relation, means for supplying water at normal temperature to8. A water still,- embodying'therein a vaporizing vessel, a condensingvessel adapted to contain water to be distilled, a series of superposeddouble walled condenser inembers within said condensing vessel, meansfor conducting steam from said vaporizing vessel directly into one oftheend condenser menace bers is caused to admin With the air entering thesame and to sterilize the latter.

9. A Water still, embodying therein a Vaporizing vessel, a condensingVessel, a series of superposed lconical doubie Walled condenser membersin said condensing Vessel, a pipe projecting upwardly from saidcondenser members and having its upper portion enlarged in diameter, dasecond pipe for conducting steam from said vaporizing vesn sel to saidcondenser members, said second pipe having its outlet end dared andnotched and telescoped with the enlarged portion et said irst mentioned.pipe, through which notched end of said pipe a portion ot the Volatilegases contained in the steam is adapted tov be Vented, and additionalmeans in said condenser members for 'venting therefrom any Volatilegases reaching the same, all said gases being ventedont of contact withthe steam or condensate.

l0. A Water still, embodying 'therein a vaporizing vessel, a condensingvessel, a ies oit superposed conical double 'Walled condenser memberswithin said condensing vessel, means for conducting steam from tbevaporizing vessel against the topV oit the inner Wall of the uppercondenser member, means whereby volatile gases may be vented from saidsteam and out of contact therewith before the same reaches the condensermember, meansV for admiring sterilized air with the steam entering saidcondenser. members, and means for venting. volatile gases from each of'said condenser members out of contact With the steam or condensatetherein. Y

il. A Water still, embodying a yaporizing Vessel, a condensing vessel, aseries of condenser members in said condensing vessel, a Water jacketabout one of: said condenser members7 means for conducting,steam tromthe vaporizing vessel to the condenser mem` bers, and means whereby airis pnabeated sterilized and drawn into the condenser members intoadmixture with the steam entering said condenser members.

in testimony whereof li bave amaca my signature in presence ot twoWitnesses.

ADQLF P.. '"NK.

"Witnesses:

@nro Mnnn,

Fnaiercn.

